Supporting foot for ladders



F. HUBBAHD.

SUPPORT-[NG FOOT FOR LADDERS.

APPLICATiON FILED MAR. 22. 1922.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

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Application filed March 22, 1922. Serial No. 545,832.

Feet tor Ladders, of which the tollowing is a speciiication. s

My'invention relates to improvements in a supporting'footjtor ladders, being use-d preferably in pairs, one `on each leg oil a ladder, the ladder being either of the plain,

ordinary form or an extension ladder, and*r the object of my improvement is to provide a supporting tootQstructure that can be applied tothe lower end of a leg of the ladder and that. will serve to prevent the ladder from slippingfor sliding when in position Afor use, and which structure is easily applied to the ladder leg, whether in the factory, on new ladders, or old ladders that are in use, and, furthermore, that yprovides means tor adj ustment and changing the active, holding portion that contacts with the ground or pave-- ment so that when one set ot prongs or teeth may have become dull another set can be set to the active, holding position.

ln the accompanying drawings z Figure l is a trent elevation ot the lower portion of a ladder that has each ot the two legs provided Ywith supporting foot embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the supporting foot and the adjacent part of the leg, being in part broken away as to the head of the carriage bolt that Figure et is a similar view with the friction v disc removed.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 6 is a sectional view ont-he line 6 6 o' Fig- 2.

My improved supporting foot for ladders is particularly effective ttor holding on pavements of concrete and the like and under conditions such that ordinary holding devices that are in common use are unreliable and the means that l provide tor elt'ecting this result comprise a friction disc 10 that is applied to the lower end portion 11 of the leg of the ladder 12 and that has the periphery cut to provide teeth 13.

Said disc 10 is made of sheet metal ot suitable quality to have the teeth 13 withstand considerable use without becon'xing dulland in' casefrom prolonged use it may be desirable to makerv a change in therteeth` l provide means t'or changing the setting or the disc sothat a plurality of sets Aof teeth can be used 'as 'provided on' asingle disc betorethe particular disc `needloe rem ove d.

Furthermore, when said disc isremoved Ithe'tee-th thereon may be' sharpened so that yit can be used again, in lieu of providing a new disc. y

rlhe disc 10 held lin `placeloy means of `a bolt le that'is provided witha nut 15,

said bolt 1d passing through the hole 16 in thedisc 10 and the hole 17 in the lower end portion 11 of the leg 18 of the ladder 12. The dimensions of `the parts are such that the teeth 13 project beyond the outer face portion or herder Wall 19 of the leg` 18 so that said teeth will at all times make contart with the supporting pavement or the like so as to `sustain the load of the ladder `relatively to the leg 18 I providethe hole 16 in the form of a non-circular opening that cooperates with a part of the bolt la of similar form.

l prefer to use an ordinary carriage bolt for the bolt 14, which has a square portion 20 adjacent the head 21 and to make the hole 16 square to correspond.

Said square portion 20 of the bolt 14 is of sutlieient length to project through the disc 10 and enter into the opposed end portion 22 of the hole 17 in the leg 18, the latter being made of wood, as usual.

rlhat is to say, a square socket may be provided in the ladder leg for cooperating with the square portion of the bolt to cooperate in positively positioning the disc relatively to the ladder leg.

l prefer, however, to provide a metal holding plate 23 that is mounted on the side face oi the leg 18 of the ladder and is interposed between said side tace and the disc 10, and that has a square opening 24 that tits the square portion 2O of the bolt 14.

Said plate 23 may extend upwardly an appreciable distance along the leg 18 and is provided with holding means in the 4form ot screw 25 to prevent turning.

ln use, the bottom portion 26 of the dise 1() will be the part that will sustain the most wear and serve generally as the active porand `provided With a non-circular hole, a ladder leg having a hole in registration With the hole inthe disc, a plate interposed loe- `tvv/een said dise and leg, having a non-circular hole to correspond to the hole 1n the diso,-

and secured ,tol said leg to prevent turning,

and a bolt entered into said holes and pro-v vided With non-oiroular portion for oo- ,operating with the non-circular holes inthe dise and plate, whereby means are provided for selectively positioning the dise relatively to the legso as to permit of the use of different portions of the periphery for the aotive, supporting portion in Contact With the ground.

2. A ladder having the legs provided With similar auxiliary supporting feet, said feet comprising each a flat plate that is secured to a side face of the opposed ladder leg and has a non-circular hoie, a toothed Wheel opposed to said plate and having also a noncireularhole to correspond to the hole in the plate and in registration therewith, the leg having a hole in registration With said non- Circular holes, a holt entered into said holes and provided with a nut, and said bolt hav` ing anon-circular portion that lits the nonoireular holes in the plate and Wheel, Whereby the Wheel will be positively held relatively to the leg and different parts of said Wheel can loe used as the active portion for contacting with the ground in supporting the ladder.

i FREDERICK HUBBARD. 

